1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus for reproducing information such as moving images, still images, or sound stored in storage media, such as random access disks.
2. Related Art of the Invention
Currently, camera-integrated storing and reproducing apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as a “digital video recorder”), which employ a disk-shaped storage medium (hereinafter referred to as a “disk”) such as a semiconductor memory card or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) are in the market as storage media. Products, such as digital video recorders, that use disks as their storage media are characterized by the ability to provide random access to the storage media, which has been impossible in products using magnetic tape as their storage media.
For example, in the digital video recorder described above, video data, still image data, and audio data are generated as a file corresponding to recorded scenes and are stored in a disk or the like. When attempting to reproduce the recorded data, an easy and high-speed reproduction operation may be achieved by directly accessing a given file.
In the field of disk reproducing apparatus, program reproduction using a play list is a known approach to reproducing specific scenes in the respective files stored in the disk. As a technology for preparing such a play list in the digital video recorder, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-175680 is already known in the related art.
In a DVD format, which is one of the standards of the disk-shaped storage medium, the smallest storage unit which satisfies a length required for enabling continuous reproduction of video or audio data is specified. The smallest storage unit is referred to as “Continuous Data Area” (CDA). By complying with the CDA, continuous reproduction is ensured.
When preparing the play list as described above, by designating a given scene in the respective files stored on the disk, a user can make the play list refer the given scene. However, there is a problem that when a scene which is shorter than the CDA is specified, continuous reproduction cannot be guaranteed. In particular, in a case where the user wants to pick up an instantaneous scene taken and stored by the user using a digital video recorder, and to connect that scene with other scenes to reproduce a play list, the desired scenes cannot be reproduced continuously due to the restriction of the CDA.